Digital radiography (DR) is increasingly accepted as an alternative to film-based imaging technologies that rely on photosensitive film layers to capture radiation exposure and thus to produce and store an image of a subject's internal physical features. With digital radiography, the radiation exposure energy captured on radiation sensitive layers is converted, pixel by pixel, to electronic image data which is then stored in memory circuitry for subsequent read-out and display on suitable electronic image display devices. One of the driving forces in the success of digital radiography is the ability to rapidly visualize and communicate stored images via data networks to one or more remote locations for analysis and diagnosis by the radiologist, without the delay that results when film must be developed and checked, then packaged and mailed or sent by courier to a remote location or when the film must be input to a separate scanner apparatus to provide digitized image data.
DR systems enjoy some advantages over conventional film-based or computed radiography (CR) systems. An advantage is the capability of the DR system to obtain radiographic image data without the need for an operator or technologist to move, handle, process, or scan any type of imaging medium following exposure. Data downloaded directly from the DR receiver panel is then quickly available for viewing and diagnosis on-site or at any appropriately networked viewer workstation. Other advantages include the capability to work with existing hardware components that generate x-ray radiation, its reduced dependence on operator performance, and its low-profile receiver designs that are compatible with receiver dimensions used for film and CR systems.
Early DR receiver panels were integrated into the x-ray system, with the interconnect cables and wiring appropriately routed out of the way of the operator, allowing the DR panel to be suitably positioned relative to the patient. Recently, portable DR receiver panels are being introduced. These portable detectors are typically powered by on-board batteries and communicate wirelessly with control panel and computer storage and display components. This makes these DR receiver panels flexible to work with and enables them to be used in place of film or CR cassettes in retrofit configurations.
While portability and wireless operation offer advantages for DR receiver panels, however, these same features also introduce potential problems in identifying the specific DR receiver panel that is being used in a multi-panel environment, so that errors in device reset or addressing can occur. Unlike the conventional x-ray film cassette or CR cassette that is routinely removed after each exposure in order to further process the medium and obtain the image, the DR receiver panel can remain in place. Where there are multiple DR receiver panels accessible from a system, the operator must be able to positively identify the specific DR panel that is in place for obtaining each image. Otherwise, it would be possible to address, reset, and collect data from the wrong DR receiver panel. Without some method for minimizing the likelihood of this type of error, there is a higher risk of unnecessary additional patient exposure due to re-takes as well as inefficiency, confusion, and wasted time and effort.